Cascading garment hanger of the clamping type



w. P. CROCKETT, JR 2,996,226

CASCADING GARMENT HANGER OF THE CLAMPING TYPE Filed April 22, 1957 Aug. 15, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 15, 1961 w. P. CROCKETT, JR 2,996,226

CASCADING GARMENT HANGER OF THE CLAMPING TYPE Filed April 22, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 15, 1961 w. P. CROCKETT, JR 2,996,226

CASCADING GARMENT HANGER OF THE CLAMPING TYPE Filed April 22, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 X United States Patent- C William P. Crockett, In, Chicago, Ill., assign'or to The Setwell Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Apr. 22, 1957, Ser. No. 654,129

2 Claims. (Cl. 223-96) This invention relates to an improved garment hanger of the clamping type, used for trousers and skirts.

, Such garment hangers are provided with a hook by the means of which it may be suspended from a rod. In the case of ordinary coat hangers it has been proposed to provide each coat hanger with a secondary hook, so that one coat hanger may be suspended from the other to provide a cascaded arrangement. Of the various constructions which have :been thus proposed, none are suitable for use with the garment hanger of the clamping type, such as the usual trouser hanger or skirt hanger. This is for the reason that the main hook itself is a part of the clamping mechanism with the result that there are very few other parts which would serve as a satisfactory base upon which a secondary hook could be formed or mounted.

"It is an object of the present invention to provide a secondary hook in the form of a separate member which can be applied to a clamping type hanger, such as a trouser hanger or a skirt hanger, without requiring any structural change in the parts of the hanger itself.

Another object is to provide a cascading garment hanger of the, clamping type which comprises the combination of a standard trouser or skirt hanger plus a secondary hook which is laterally offset from the median plane of the hanger so that the next hanger supported thereby will not interfere with the garment which is clamped by the first.

In a device of this type jaws are provided to engage the garment to be supported, and the jaws in turn are supported by arms or other means which are hingedly connected to each other. A clamping lever is provided for urging the jaws into clamping engagement with each other.

The jaw supporting arms comprise two shaped rods, each of which is provided with a crank portion. The clamping lever is pivotally mounted on one crank portion and engages a roller on the other crank portion, to draw the arms and the jaws together. Thus, the characteristic of this type of garment hanger to which the present invention is directed is the provision of two oppositely disposed crank portions, one of which supports the clampinglever.

Itis a further object of my invention to provide in a device of this type a secondary book which is mounted on the clamp supporting crank where it will not interfere with the operation of the clamping lever.

Another object is to provide a secondary hook in the form of a removable clip.

Still another object is to provide a secondary hook in theforrn of'a clip which is so designed that it will not interfere with the operation of an operating spring which may be mounted on the same crank.

Other objects, features and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

FIG. 1 isa'front elevation showing a preferred emb'odijnent of my invention, and also showing in dotted. lines a second garment hanger-supported from the first;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevation showing the crank and the supporting clip;

.FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

Patented Aug. 15, 1961 FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the spring and not the supporting clip;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 4 showing both the spring and the supporting clip;

FIG. 6 is a vertical section taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a front elevation of the clip shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a rear elevation of the clip shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the clip of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 11 is a side elevation of the clip.

FIGS. 12 to 15 are views similar to FIGS. 8, 7, 2 and 3 respectively, but showing a modified form of clip.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 7, the reference numeral 12 designates generally a garment hanger, such as a trouser hanger of the clamping type. FIG. 1 shows a similar hanger 13 which is hung from hanger 12 to provide a cascaded arrangement. The hanger 12 comprises a pair of jaws 14, of which only one is shown in FIG. 1. The ja-ws are supported by two rods 15 and 16, shown in FIG. 7, one comprising a roller supporting rod 15, and

the other comprising the clamp supporting rod 16. The

roller supporting rod 15 comprises end portions 17, which are received in and secured to one of the jaws 14, a centrally disposed crank 18, and pintles 19 which are disposed between the crank and the two end portions. A roller 20 is mounted on the crank 18. 1

The clamp supporting rod 16 comprises end portions 21, received in and secured to the other one of the jaws 14, a centrally disposed crank 22, and helices 23, one being disposed at either side of the crank 22. The helices 23 surround the pintles 19 and provide a hinged connection between the roller supporting rod 15 and the clamp supporting rod 16, and between their associated jaws 14. In FIG. 2 it will be observed that there is an arched connecting portion 24 between the crank 22 and each of the helices 23. The clamping lever 25 is pivotally mounted at one end on the crank 22.

Each of the cranks 18 and 22 comprise substantially parallel leg portions and a horizontal connecting portion. The roller 20 is pivotally mounted on the connecting portion of the crank 18, and one end of the clamping lever 25 is pivotally mounted on the horizontally connecting portion of the other crank 22.

The means for supporting the hanger 13 is in the form of a removable clip 26, which is mounted on the clamp supporting crank 22, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. This clip, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, comprises a body portion 27, a hook 28, and two rearwardly extending arms 29, which terminate in lugs 30.

.As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the body portion 27 overlies the upper portion of the crank 22, and the arms 29 extend over and around the connecting portions 24 and rest thereon. The lugs 30 extend laterally underneath the connecting portions 24 and interlock therewith so that the clip 26 is locked in place. However, the su-p-' porting clip 26 is made of resilient stock so that the same may be removed or applied to the crank by a slight flexing of the outer ends of the arms 29. r The portion 31 of the arms 29 is bent rearwardly so as to provide a cam surface which will facilitate the application of the supporting clip to the connecting portion 24.

' August 19, 1952.

In order that the jaws may be urged apart when the clamp supporting crank 22, is shown in FIG. 4. The

spring 32 is provided with two legs which urge the jaws into open position. One of the legs comprises a base portion 33, and the other leg comprises an arm 34. A connecting portion 35 connects the base portion and the arm. The base portion .33 is provided with wings 36 which extend laterally and are bent around so as to engage the parallel leg portion of the crank 22. Thus, the operating spring 32 is mounted on the crank 22 and the arm 34 is held outwardly in a position to engage the crank 18 as the jaws are swung toward closed position.

One feature of the present invention is that the supporting clip .26 .is so designed as to overlie the spring 32 in such a manner that the supporting clip will not interfere with the operation of the latter. In this connection it will be observed that the body portion 27 of the clip 26 is cut away as indicated at 37 so as to accommodate the connecting portion 35 of the spring 32, this relationship of the parts being shown in FIGS. 5 to 7.

In the particular hanger construction illustrated, the outer end of the clamping .lever 25 is provided with a hook 38 which comprises the main hook by means of which the garment hanger ,is supported. However, the invention is equally applicable where separate primary hook means may be provided which are secured to the helices 23 as shown .in prior .Patent No. 2,269,413, dated January 6, 1942.

In FIGS. 12 to 15, a modified clip 40 is shown which is provided with a body portion 41, a hook 42, and two rearwardly extending arms 43 which terminate in lugs 44. These parts corresponding to parts 27, "28, 29 and 30, respectively of the clip 26. In the clip 40, however, the arms 43 are also provided with a second set of lugs referred to as upper lugs 45 which extend over the pintles 19.

These upper lugs 45 serve two purposes: first, they engage the pintles Y19 and thus prevent the clip 40 from rocking in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 15: and, secondly, they extend into proximity to the helices 23, thus acting as spacers to limit the lateral shifting or displacement of the clip to the right or left as viewed inFIGS. l3 and 1 4.

It has been found that if the clip 26 is designed to fit over the operating spring 32, that its dimensions are such that if applied to a springless type hanger, as shown in FIG. 3, a certain clearance is present, which clearance results in an undesirable play or looseness of the clip on the crank 22. This play may permit the clipto drop off, and this is due to two reasons.

First, the width of the space between the body portion 27 of clip 26 and the downwardly extending portions and lugs 30 of the arms permits the clip 26 to rock on the connecting portions 24 in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3, whereas this does not occur When the presence of the operating spring 32 takes up this clearance and provides a tight fit. This rocking may be accompanied by an upward riding movement of the clip 26 which, if there is any lateral movement, will cause disengagement of one of the lugs 30 from its associated connecting portion 24.

- Second, the looseness or play does ermit the aforesaid lateral movement.

Therefore, the clip 26 must be made up in two sizes, one for the springless type, and one for the separate spring type in orderto insure afit which is suificiently tight as to permit the locks 30 to remain interlocked with the connecting portions .24, in each instance.

The clip .40 is designed for universal use on both types, since the pper lugs 45 prevent both the rocking and the lateral shifting, as aforesaid.

To summarize the operation which has been pointed out in detail in connection with the description of the device itself, it will be apparent that a series of as many asfour or five separate hangers may be suspendedrone from the other, and each hanger, of course, will support 4 a separate garment. This provides important space .saving advantages when the hangers are supported from a closet rod. Furthermore, in the case where the hanger is supported from an ordinary clothes hook, the present invention doubles or trebles the capacity of that hook.

It will be observed that the secondary hook 28 or 42 is offset to one side of the jaws 14 so that the trousers 39 which are supported by the hanger 12 will not be displaced by the jaws of the hanger 13 to the extent that the top garment is draped over the jaws of all of the lower hangers, Thus, when garments are hung on cascaded hangers for a considerable period of time, as during summer storage, they will be ready for wear when removed, and will not have a series of horizontal creases or lines impressed therein. Furthermore, by mounting the secondary hook means on the clamp supporting crank 22, the stress occasioned by the weight of the lower hangers is transmitted directly from the clip 26 or 40 to the book 38 through only the crank portion 22 of the rod 16. Thus, there is no additional stress imposed upon the helices 23 or on the pintles 19 which would tend to deform the same. This is particularly important in the case of the springless type of hanger shown in my aforesaid prior Patent No. 2,607,517.

The fact that the secondary hook is in the form of a detachable clip 26 or 40 permits the same to be removed by the .user when the trousers or skirt hangers are hung side by side on a common rod.

Furthermore, the provision of secondary hook means in the form of a separate .clip avoids all additional wire forming operations in the manufacture of a cascading hanger.

Although only preferred embodiments of my invention have been shown and described herein, it is understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the constructions shown without departing from the spirit of my invention, as pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim: '1. .A garment hanger comprising two jaws, a rod sup porting each of said jaws, said jaws and said rods being oppositely disposed from one another to provide a space between one jaw and its associated rod and the other jaw and its associated rod, each of said rods comprising two end portions bent to form jaw arms and comprising a centrally disposed crank, one of said cranks being a clamping lever supporting crank, means hingedly connecting said rods to each other at points between said cranks and said jaw arms to provide for pivoted movement of said jaws with respect to each other, a clamping lever pivotally mounted on said clamping lever supporting crank and adapted to engage the other of said cranks to bring said jaws into clamping engagement with each other, a U-shaped operating spring having one leg secured to said clamping lever supporting crank and having the other leg projecting into the space between said cranks for engagement by the other of said cranks, the connecting portion of said U-shapedoperating spring extending upwardly, and a clip device having a body portion overlying said operating spring, two supporting arms each of which extend over and around and engage a portion of the clamping lever supporting rod at a point adjacent said clamping lever supporting crank, and a hook portion connected to said body portion for supporting a second garment hanger, said body portion being cut away to accommodate the connecting portion of said operating spring.

2. A garment hanger comprising two jaws, a rod supporting each of said jaws, said jaws and said rods 'be ing oppositely disposed from one another .to provide a space between one jaw and its associated rod and the other jaw and its associated rod, each of said rods comprising two end portions bent to form jaw arms and comprising a centrally disposed crank, one of said cranks being a clamping lever supporting crank, means hinged- 1y connecting said rods to each other at points between said cranks and said jaw arms to provide for pivoted movement of said jaws with respect to each other, a clamping lever pivotally mounted on said clamping lever supporting crank and adapted to engage the other of said cranks to bring said jaws into clamping engagement with each other, and a clip device having a body portion overlying a portion of said clamping lever supporting crank, two supporting arms each of which extend over and around and engage a portion of the clamping lever supporting rod at a point adjacent said clamping lever supporting crank, and a hook portion connected to said body portion for supporting a second garment hanger.

Hewlett Ian. 9, Wathins et a1. Dec. 25, DuLude Feb. 21, Crockett Mar. 11, Crockett Aug. 19, Micucci Feb. 24,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Aug. 27, 

